Los 40 USA
Sign in to commentAPP
spainSPAINchileCHILEcolombiaCOLOMBIAusaUSAmexicoMEXICOlatin usaLATIN USAamericaAMERICA

CAF

Caf has started to "fight corruption" in African football, claims Ahmad

Recently, African football has been hit by a series of alleged corruption scandals involving some of the FA heads of the continent.

Caf has started to "fight corruption" in African football, claims Ahmad
Zacharias ABUBEKER / AFP

Ahmad Ahmad, president of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), has declared that the organisation has started to fight effectively against corruption, an issue which he says affects the whole world, not just the continent.

Speaking at the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Under-17 final in Mauritius on Sunday, Ahmad said Caf has already seen through many reforms to combat corruption.

"We have started to fight corruption and have changed many rules," he said.

"Corruption is not only in Africa but all over the world and everybody is trying to fight it.

"Maybe it is visible in some countries in Africa but believe me I'm sure in all sectors and all countries there is corruption," Ahmad added.

"Huge progress", according to Ahmad

Ahmad, who refused to comment on individual cases, said Africa's football controlling body has made huge progress in recent months.

"First of all, with the finances there is transparency and there is compliance which is not available in other sectors in Africa and we have changed some of our staff who were involved in corruption before."

African officials exposed

Early in June, Ghanaian undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas released a documentary showing African officials allegedly engaging in acts of corruption.

The two-hour film generated widespread uproar, prompting the Ghanaian government to dissolve the country's FA and forcing its football chief Kwesi Nyantakyi to resign from the top positions he held with Fifa and Caf.

Adel Range Marwa, a Kenyan World Cup-bound referee who was filmed accepting a cash gift, was removed by Fifa from its list of officials for Russia 2018.

"I think that we in Africa would have done better at the world (soccer) stage if we had not allowed people to infiltrate the camps of football setting," Anas said in an interview with Reuters.

"If you had people who will sit down and fix a match and determine what the outcome will be, that is not fair to African football. If referees can sell yellow card, sell red card, sell goals, then you’re looking at a very bleak future of African football."

Last week, Nigeria's chief coach Salisu Yusuf became the latest victim of Anas's investigations, as he was caught on camera accepting cash from undercover journalists posing as football agents who wanted him to select two players for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN).